IPL 2023 | Predicted Playing XI for Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings

image-lhkpnz4iDC vs PBKS (Twitter)

The 59th fixture of the 16th edition of IPL will be played between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The game is expected to kick off on May 13 at 1930 local time. 

DC are languishing right at the bottom of the points table with 8 points under their belt and need to win all their games now and hope that other results go their way, if they want to make it to the playoffs.

PBKS, on the other hand, have 10 points on the board and also need to win this game to keep their realistic hopes of qualifying for the playoffs alive.

Delhi Capitals 

Openers

David Warner and Phil Salt

Capitals are likely to stick to the opening combination of Warner and Salt. Following the exit of Shaw from their playing eleven, the duo has offered some stability at the top of the order. Salt looked in explosive touch against RCB the other day where he played a match winning innings of 87 (45) which floored the RCB bowling lineup. The skipper Warner has accumulated 330 runs in 11 innings which includes 4 fifty plus scores. He has a healthy batting average of 30 but his strike rate has been in shambles which is at a shocking low of 119.57. 

Middle Order

Manish Pandey, Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Rossouw, Aman Hakim Khan, Axar Patel

Pandey was leading run getter for DC in the last game and batted well for his 27 (29) under tricky circumstances. He is averaging 20 this season with one fifty plus score to his name. Mitchell Marsh has been a ray of hope the depleted DC side this season. 

He bagged a brilliant man of the match award for his quickfire 63 (39) against SRH which saw them clinch a 9 run victory against them. Besides, he looked in good touch with the ball in the last game returning figures of 3/18.

Rossouw hasn't looked at his fluent best but has played a few decent cameos this season averaging around 24. Aman Hakim Khan starred with the bat in their fixture against GT on May 2 where he scored 51 (44) and won the game for his side in a low scoring thriller. 

Axar has played his part well with the bat and the ball this season averaging 33.38 and 28 respectively. The 29-year-old has picked up 9 wickets and notched up his highest score (54 off 25) of this season against MI.

Lower Order

Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed

Ishant Sharma had a poor outing in his recent game against CSK. However, he has impressed us all with his uncanny ability to pick up wickets. He claimed the man of the match award for his impressive bowling figures of 2/19 against KKR. Kuldeep Yadav has picked up 9 wicket at an average of 30.44 whilst maintaining a very robust economy rate of 7.03.

Mukesh Kumar may get a few more games under his belt. He averages 45 with the ball and has slightly been on the higher side this season with 6 wickets to his name. Khaleel Ahmed has picked up 7 wickets this season and has gone for just over 9 RPO whilst averaging 28.

Predicted Playing XI of Delhi Capitals

David Warner, Phil Salt, Manish Pandey, Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Rossouw, Aman Hakim Khan, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed

Impact Players

Lalit Yadav

Ripal Patel

Priyam Garg

Sarfaraz Khan

Abishek Porel

Punjab Kings

Openers

Prabhsimran Singh and Shikhar Dhawan

PBKS have relied on the opening combination of Prabhsimran Singh and Dhawan for the last 5 games. Singh is a rising talent for PBKS and has scored at a lightning strike rate of over 150. He achieved a top score of 60 (34) against RR which saw PBKS clinch an impressive 5 run victory. 

The skipper Dhawan has also accumulated some useful runs at the top of the order. In this season alone, Dhawan has scored 349 runs at a staggering average of 58 with a lethal strike rate of over 143.

Middle Order

Matthew Short, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Sam Curran, M Shahrukh Khan 

Short has played a few handy knocks this season for PBKS. He has averaged just below 20 with the bat and has bowled some economical overs for his side. Livingstone has been batting on another planet. He is averaging 34.4 with the bat and has been striking at a lightning strike rate of over 160 which also includes his best IPL score of 82* against MI. 

Jitesh Sharma has earned the reputation for scoring match defining cameos averaging at 26. Curran has been fairly impressive with the bat but not so much with the ball. He averages 24.5 with the bat and has registered his best IPL score of 55 (29) against MI in a winning cause. Shahrukh's strike rate has been astounding hovering above 165. He has the ability to score some quick runs in the death overs. 

Lower Order

Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh

Ellis kept it pretty tight last time around when they faced KKR in their last encounter. He ended his spell with figures of 1/29 going at 7.25 RPO. Rahul Chahar also had an impressive outing with the ball last time as he returned figures of 2/23 and managed to keep the scoring rate in check during middle overs. 

Brar has been quite tidy with his left arm orthodox spin going at just under 7.5 RPO. He has picked up 5 wickets in 9 innings averaging 29.8. The speedster Arshdeep Singh is the highest wicket taker for Kings this season. He has spearheaded the bowling attack well and has picked up 15 wickets in 11 matches averaging at 25.86.

Predicted Playing XI of Punjab Kings

Prabhsimran Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Matthew Short, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Sam Curran, M Shahrukh Khan, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh

Impact Players

Gurnoor Brar

Atharva Taide 

Sikandar Raza 

Mohit Rathee

Rishi Dhawan